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UPDATE: Dwyane Wade has been ruled OUT for Friday night's game, per Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra.
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The Miami Heat could be incredibly shorthanded on Friday night against the Atlanta Hawks.
As mentioned in our preview earlier in the day, the Heat are already without Chris Bosh (injury) and Hassan Whiteside (suspension) for the first game after the All-Star Break, and as of Friday afternoon, Miami might be missing its best perimeter player as well in the form of Dwyane Wade.
Dwyane Wade will be a game time decision, Spo says. Wade dealing with soreness in back of knee #Heat
— Manny Navarro (@Manny_Navarro) February 19, 2016
Wade is seemingly always dealing with something when the Heat come to Atlanta and today is no different. The veteran (and future Hall of Fame) guard played 23 minutes in Sunday's All-Star Game, but he let the Miami media know that some ill effects came out of Thursday's practice.
Dwyane Wade at practice Thursday said of his knee: "Going through practice today, behind my knee got a little sore." #Heat
— Manny Navarro (@Manny_Navarro) February 19, 2016
Wade: "So today has just been more precaution, not try to make it flare up even more. Do a lot of treatment and hopefully be fine tomorrow."
— Manny Navarro (@Manny_Navarro) February 19, 2016
While Goran Dragic is certainly in the discussion, the absence of Wade could lead to Miami's top three players missing this particular game and, in a weird way, the pressure cooker could ratchet up for the Hawks to grab a win. Stay tuned for the latest as tip-off approaches.